I'd fallen in love with Amanda Palmer from her appearances on the Australian TV show, Good News Week, where she was an occasional guess. Although this turned out to only be a crush as I didn't really know anything about her beyond that.

After reading the Art of Asking I feel that that brief glimpse of her was an accurate one, she is an increadibly active person, bursting with ideas and passion if occasionally lacking in direction.

The Art of Asking details aspects of Amanda's life as she learns to let the people closest to her help.

It talks about the risk and fear of asking for help, and how even if you can bravely declare you need a tampon to a group of strangers you might still hesitate to ask for money from your partner.

For the most part I enjoyed the work, Amanda is a skilled story teller and the sometimes disjointed tangents feel as though she is speaking directly to you. Although it does mean that the book can feel frustrating as the story goes on for a while and you want her to get to the point.

The emotions are strong throughout the story, giving you a strong understanding of the Amanda and her cares and fears. A lot of times, the way she would speak about creating, specifically about the dear of the 'Fraud Police' rang out for me incredibly true.

However my main complaint with the book comes from an unawareness of a level of privilege, I found myself getting frustrated with her positivity about asking for help from strangers. While she does talk about the risks she's faced and the sometimes very real consequences that vulnerability has led to, she also doesn't acknowledge the personal securities she has in life that allow her to take some of these risks.

While it is a personal story, so you could say she doesn't need to, it does mean that the book will be a bit inaccessible to others who aren't able to move past it. You don't want to be reading a book about learning how to ask for help, when you are able to see all the things that make it easier for the narrator to ask.

Depending on your own millage you can find this book inspirational or frustrating, or like me a mix of the two. I would be interested in reading more by Amanda, especially around art and creativity as the writing does come alive and resonates around these topics. However I can't give this a huge recommendation, if you're interested you will probably enjoy it.